


The Teacher

by E350tb



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Bullying, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 07:30:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13699797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/pseuds/E350tb
Summary: Connie has a bad experience with a teacher.





	The Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of based on my experiences with my year three maths teacher. I wrote it to vent some frustrations.

**The Teacher**

Connie swallowed as she walked to her English teacher’s office. She held a note from her mother in her hands, nervously shifting it from left to right as she walked down the hall. She couldn't be afraid, she told herself - he was just a teacher, nothing more.

She reached his door, took a deep breath and entered.

“Enter,” a voice called out.

Connie swallowed and pushed open the door.

Daniel Vought sat at his desk, his mouth a thin line of disapproval. He was a grey, balding man who wore thick glasses that made his eyes look enormous. He was tall and constantly bent slightly forward giving the impression of a predator leaning over his prey. As far as Connie knew, he never smiled.

“Maheswaran,” he said curtly, “You were absent from class last week.”

“Yes sir,” replied Connie, “I was...uh...I have a note from mom, sir.”

She put the envelope on his desk. He took it, opening it and reading it over. His eyes narrowed.

“The Crystal Gems, you say,” he said.

‘Y-yes sir,” nodded Connie, “Uh, th-their number’s there, if you want…”

“No need,” replied Vought, “I'll see you in class.”

He pointed to the door.

Connie stepped out of his office, closing the door behind her. She mopped her brow - he seemed to have taken that pretty well. She'd expected worse.

Vought was well known among the school’s staff and students. He was not well loved - he cracked down hard on perceived failures and was perpetually sour and gloomy. He seemed to get satisfaction from spreading his misery to others, but he got good grades out of his students and was generally regarded as fair by the principal.

Connie had been lucky enough to have had other English teachers before, but she'd been sorted into Vought’s class this semester. She had kept her head down and tried not to be notice, but a mission had gone awry the previous week and she'd missed school. She'd expected him to be much angrier about it - maybe his reputation was exaggerated.

In any case, she seems to be off the hook, and that was the main thing.

* * *

Her last class for the day was English. She took her usual place next to the window, listening to the rain on the glass. The bell rang, but there was no sign of Vought.

“Where's Mr. Vought?” whispered Connie.

Next to her, Peedee shrugged.

The door flew open and Vought strode in. He seemed to have far more energy than normal. He walked over to his desk and leaned against it, eyeing over the class.

“Well class,” he said, “I have something quite amusing for you. Before we move on to the inane prattle of Herman Melville, I thought I'd read this little extract I received this morning.”

He pulled a note from his pocket. Connie stifled a gasp - it was her mother's note.

“Mr. Vought,” he read, “Please excuse Connie from class last week - she was stranded with the Crystal Gems after a _warp pad malfunction_.” He emphasised those words, “Both the Gems and Greg Universe’s numbers are attached, blah blah blah, signed _Doctor_ Maheswaran.”

Connie swallowed as Vought looked her straight in the eye.

“Well class,” he said, “Apparently you're just not as appealing as these _Crystal Gems_.”

There was some mumbling. Normally, Vought would have demanded silence - today he simply raised an eyebrow.

“Class, let me tell you a story,” he said, pacing in front of the room, “Once there was a class of animals, deep in the woods. And all of them were learning what they needed to know to get the jobs they wanted - except one. This was a small, strange-looking platypus who thought she knew everything - her name was _Connie_.”

Connie suddenly felt very small. There was a chuckle from the other end of the room.

“And this Connie, well, she thought she was too good for school, too good for her _classmates_ ,” continued Vought, “She'd much rather spend her time hanging around with the cool animals and having _adventures_. The animals were like...hmm...any ideas?”

“Ooh!” someone called, raising their hand, “There's that shrill bird one!”

“Yes, good!” nodded Vought, “Anything else?”

“Yeah, that fat kid,” snorted a girl at the back, “He can be a walrus.”

Connie gripped her desk, trying to remain calm.

“Yes, good,” nodded Vought, “In any case, she chose to hang around with the shrill bird and the fat walrus because she thought they were _cool_. But then came test day.”

He stopped pacing and crossed his arms.

“And poor Connie knew _none_ of the answers,” he said, “She failed every single question. And all of the other animals laughed at her, because they now knew that it was they who were better than her. And so Connie jumped into a stream and never showed her face in the forest again. And nobody _cared_.”

For the first time, Connie saw him smile - a self-satisfied, smug and yet somehow joyless grin.

“Maheswaran,” he declared, “I'm _surprised_. The principal recommended you so _highly_. Straight Bs, high participation - perhaps that inflated your ego? Perhaps that made you think you could simply skip school?”

Connie closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing - in and out - _flexibility, love and…_

“Hey look!” somebody called out, “She's gonna _cry!_ ”

Connie opened her eyes. Vought towered over her, hands on her desk.

“Your absence is _not_ excused,” he snarled, “Your grade _will_ be deducted for this, and I _will_ be seeing you in detention after school for the rest of the week.”

“B-But I've never got detention before!” exclaimed Connie, “And my mom…”

“She's not _my_ mother and she's not getting you out of this,” snapped Vought, causing most of the class to laugh, “Perhaps it will teach you not to be a little know-it-all who thinks she's too cool for school.”

Connie squeezed her eyes shut, her heart racing. _Take a moment to think of ju-_

“ _Open your eyes when I am talking to you!_ ” thundered Vought, “ _And STOP YOUR BLASTED CROCODILE TEARS!_ ”

Connie got up and bolted. She heard Vought shout angrily after her as the class burst into laughter once more - she didn't care. She felt hot tears on her cheeks - she no longer cared to hold them back.

She ran out the main doors and into the rain, bound for anywhere but there.

* * *

There was a knock on the Beach House door. Steven jumped in surprise, dropping his controller - he raced downstairs, only for Amethyst to beat him to the door.

She swung the door open.

“Yo,” she said.

“Is Steven home?” asked Peedee. He looked very worried.

“Hey Peedee!” said Steven, waving jovially, “What's up?”

“Connie ran out of school today,” replied Peedee, “No-one's seen her. I mean, I checked her house but she’s not...look, something real bad happened and…”

“Connie’s missing?” exclaimed Steven, horrified.

Peedee swallowed and nodded.

“The English teacher said some really messed up stuff,” he explained, “He just humiliated her in front of the whole class and he made her cry and…”

“He did _what?!_ ” demanded Amethyst.

“But teachers are supposed to be nice, right?” said Steven, shocked, “Why would he do that?”

“Not all teachers are good, Steven,” said Peedee grimly, “Some are pretty awful.”

“Well, where did she go?” demanded Amethyst.

“I don't know,” sighed Peedee, “I was hoping she'd be here! I…”

The bathroom door swung open, and Lion walked out. He strolled up to the door, ignoring the cries from within the bathroom (“Come back! I haven't finished making my ‘cat video!’”)

“Lion?” quizzed Steven.

Lion stepped out into the rain and sniffed the air. He roared and bent down.

“I think he wants us to ride him,” said Steven, “Maybe he's got Connie’s scent?”

“It's worth a shot,” shrugged Peedee.

They climbed onto his back and rode away.

* * *

Connie sat in a hollow tree trunk in the forest, her head in her hands. She couldn't go back, she told herself - her parents would be livid that she'd left school, Vought would give her even more detention, the other kids would laugh at her…

No, she'd just have to live in the forest forever. She could live off berries, she supposed, and it wouldn't be cold and wet _all_ the time…

Suddenly, she heard something skid to a halt in the mud next to her. There was a splat as something dropped, and then someone was standing outside her shelter.

“Connie?” asked Steven, “Can I come in?”

Connie swallowed and nodded. Steven ducked into the trunk, sitting across from her.

“It's like the Great North,” he chuckled, “‘Cept muddier.”

Connie didn't reply.

“I heard what Mr. Vought said,” he explained, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Connie looked up at him. Her eyes were red and dried tear streaks ran down her face. She was covered in mud and grime, and a few branches stuck out of her hair. She was very damp.

“I don't get it,” she said, her voice coarse, “Why did he do that? And why did it hurt so much?”

“He's a teacher,” replied Steven, “He’s supposed to look after you. When he's just making fun of you, and everyone else joins in - I guess you feel betrayed?”

“But _why?_ ” she exclaimed, “What made him do it?”

Steven scratched his chin. There was a long silence.

“Because he's jealous?”

Connie tilted her head.

“Jealous?”

“Yeah,” nodded Steven, “Because you're really smart and all the other teachers like you, and you get to go on adventures and see space and all that stuff with your friends. And he never had anything like that.”

“What, going to space?” quizzed Connie.

“No, friends,” replied Steven, “Adventures. Doing good in school. Maybe he never had that, and now he's angry because you do.”

Connie nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “But the rest of the class joined in. They _laughed_ , Steven. They're never gonna take me seriously again…”

“Who cares what they think?” asked Steven, “They're a bunch of _dinks!_ The Gems like you! Peedee likes you! _I_ like you! Who cares what anyone else says?”

He scooted over, putting an arm over Connie’s shoulder.

“You're smart and strong and brave and pretty,” he said, “And if Mr. Vought can't see that, that's his loss.”

Connie sniffled and pulled Steven into a hug. They stayed still for some time, Connie sobbing quietly into Steven’s shoulder.

“Okay, we called Dr. Maheswaran,” said Peedee as he and Amethyst climbed into the tree trunk, “She's coming.”

“Is she mad?” asked Connie.

“I think she's just glad you're okay,” replied Peedee.

“She's _real mad_ at Vought, though,” added Amethyst.

“She's not the only one,” muttered Peedee, “But yeah, Vought’s in _big_ trouble. Jeff says the Principal called him up to explain him…”

His phone beeped. He quickly read the text.

“... _aaaaaaand_ he's fired,” he said.

Connie sighed in relief.

Amethyst looked out at the rain pouring down. She smiled.

“Y'know, it's actually kinda nice out here,” she said.

Connie closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the rain. She smiled, slowly breathing in and out.

“Yeah,” she said, “It is.”

**Author's Note:**

> And everyone lived happily ever after, except for Vought, who will never work in this town again.


End file.
